The significant characteristics or traits of many personality disorders can be quite troublesome. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is one of them.
Dealing with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder sufferer can be draining, frustrating and even hurtful. The person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder will often overlook or ignore many of these traits that make them unlikable.
Here are nine signs of a narcissist you should not ignore:
They don’t listen to other people’s opinion
Have you ever felt ignored or looked down upon by someone, even though that person was in no position to do so? If yes then you might have witnessed a sign of narcissism. The perception of a narcissist makes them believe that what other people have to say isn’t important, so they don’t pay attention and blank it out.
Rather than listening carefully and participating in discussions, they treat every conversation as a platform to present their own ideas only. They think their ideas are the only ideas worth listening to and don’t pay attention to anyone else’s idea.
They constantly need to be admired
If you’ve ever seen a narcissist, you must have noticed that they need arrogance with every breath. They might represent themselves as they possess tremendous confidence, but it’s not true.
Narcissists need constant admiration. The delusion of always being entitled to admiration is why people around them get exhausted and often find themselves emotionally drained. For a narcissist, there’s no greater rush than being put on a pedestal and worshipped by their fans and followers.
They tend to cheat in relationships
Narcissists feel their treasures that are extraordinary for anyone. If you bring this attitude into a relationship, you have lightning waiting to strike. Cheating is often a way for narcissists to boost their ego. These love failure quotes are getting popular on social media but none of them talks about this problem.
Author Katarina Valentini at Psychology Today says that narcissists are incapable of forming any kind of normal relationship and will wreak havoc in their partner’s lives. Betraying someone and leaving them in great grief and with sad quotes gives a narcissist a rush of power.
They Can’t Tolerate criticism
Have you ever commented on something someone said and they lashed out at you? Maybe the reaction was more hostile than expected. If you’ve experienced such a scenario, it might be the signs of narcissism.
Narcissists think they’re superior to others around them and believe themselves to be infallible. It s hard for them to tolerate any kind of negative comments or criticism.
They react very poorly, maybe yelling, throwing a tantrum, or with another unreasonable poor response, when they perceive what you’ve said might be criticism.
They exploit others without guilt or shame
Narcissism and empathy don’t go hand in hand. Narcissists never try to see the world from the perspective of others. They are very unwilling to do so. They are limited to their own perception of things.
As a result of this, they’re easily able to exploit others without any feeling of guilt. They can manipulate people to fulfill their own needs without regard for the consequences that their actions may have on others. And that’s why being around a narcissist can be painful and hurting.
They belittle others
The narcissists think they’re the best and most talented among all. They keep boasting about them. If someone is more talented than they are at a particular activity, it is a rude shock for them. The response is to make sure that the person is below them and they try their best to ensure that.
They try to dismiss the other person and his opinions to show that they don’t really care about them. And if that doesn’t work, they start doing personal attacks. They belittle and intimidate the other person to assert superiority over him or her.
They see themselves as more attractive than they really are
Even though everyone should feel attractive about themselves, there’s a fine line between a healthy self-image and being delusional. This line is often crossed by narcissists, who believe that they are exceptionally attractive, regardless of imperfections.
A narcissist uses this perceived superior attractiveness to justify to himself why he is extremely important for everyone. They have this fake perception in their minds that they try to impose on everyone.
They gaslight those who are dear to them
Have you ever spotted the feeling that you can’t remember anything correctly when you are around a specific person? When you’re with that person, do you think a little like you’ve lost your mind? That’s due to gaslighting. The tactic narcissists use to manipulate and gain power and control over those around them.
Gaslighting is frightening because it’s insidious. The process of manipulation is lengthy and gradual, so the victim doesn’t even notice it happening, It’s like when you grow taller with age.
The final result of gaslighting and long-term gradual manipulation is the devastation of the victim. It eventually transforms the most healthy and confident person into a shaking paranoid shell. The victim no longer believes they know what’s real, so they adopt the abuser’s reality, giving the narcissus full control.
They put some people on pedestals
This last sign might seem oddly contradictory to the other signs, but there’s a logic behind this sign, and here’s why: Narcissists believe that they have to have perfection in everything they do, including people they associate with. A narcissist will always try to be comfortable or cozy up to someone higher in status, thinking that perfection will somewhat rub onto them.
For example, That suck-up in class who always gets the lecturers full attention, or the brown-noser at work who barely does any job, but gets promotions. These are the people they put on pedestals, but also try to belittle the other people who are below them.
Bottom Line
Dealing with a narcissistic person is not easy. It can be excruciating and exhausting. Some people might be experiencing it, but sill they don’t have any clue about it. The signs mentioned above are some significant signs of narcissistic personality disorder.
Have you experienced any of these signs of narcissism in your life? Do you know someone who has a narcissistic personality disorder? What is your opinion about narcissism?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shubham Shukla is a passionate blogger and freelancer. He’s also an engineer. He writes about self-improvement and personal development on his blog Thediaryforlife. You can get in touch with him on [email protected]